Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Psycho Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson June 6, 2017

It is always a daunting task to remake or re-imagine a classic film so when Gus Van Sant went to Universal Studios to convince them that Psycho could be redone shot-for-shot in color, he knew he would have to answer a lot of skeptics. On an annual basis, Universal kept a couple of spec treatments of vintage titles in its vault that it wanted to remake. Psycho didn't appear at the top of the list so Van Sant had to lobby the studio at least a couple of times to make what he called a recreation or reproduction. The Portland native had been a devoted fan of Hitchcock's and wanted to experiment with the possibilities that color could bring to original scenarist Joseph Stefano's macabre material. Hitchcock himself had already experimented with color as far back as 1948 and decided to film Psycho in black and white in part owing to budgetary limitations. Van Sant thought that his reinterpretation would give young film students and casual cinema fans a chance to see a pop-inspired appropriation of a classic horror shocker that they may have heard of but not really seen. Like Hitchcock and his crew, Van Sant and his filmmaking team spent six weeks of principal photography mainly on the studio lot with similar budgets (the 1998 update cost $23 million). Universal's marketing department employed analogous strategies for both versions. They unveiled teaser trailers but withheld from showing a preview screening to a test audience or an advanced showing for the press critics. Contemporary accounts of Van Sant's version, however, conjecture that the real reason marketers were apprehensive about getting the film out early is that they feared negative publicity (and this is probably true). Psycho (1998) came out during a period when Universal was suffering financial losses, which prompted the ouster of two executive board members. Media reports also postulate that Universal was hoping to capitalize on the success of Scream (1996) and use Psycho as a cash cow.

Van Sant retains a great majority of Stefano's dialogue as well as original cinematographer John L. Russell's framing compositions. There are times in which Van Sant departs from Hitchcock but I don't want to divulge all the differences for those who haven't seen it. Van Sant wanted Marion Crane to have more fun swiping money from her boss and Anne Heche delights in this escapade. The problem with the first half of Psycho isn't Heche's performance (although she doesn't compare with Janet Leigh), however, is that the movie is lit overly bright and doesn't mesh well with the tone that I believe Van Sant was attempting to set. The lighting is not a fault of Shout! Factory's transfer but a case where the use of color doesn't coalesce with the inherent aspects of a classic Hollywood thriller. Hitchcock brilliantly lit Russell's black-and-white photography, establishing a brooding atmosphere and a semblance of mysteriousness for Marion's getaway trek to the Bates Motel. Even some of the evening scenes are lit too brightly. Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek do a splendid job with the arrangement of Bernard Herrmann's original score cues but the levity in which the story has been treated goes against the music's tone of dread and somberness. Perhaps Van Sant was aiming for didactic counterpoint but image and sound come across as anachronistic and tonally asynchronous.

You should have stayed out of the shower, Marion!

It is not until the introduction of Private Investigator Milton Arbogast (William H. Macy) that Van Sant and world-class cinematographer Christopher Doyle find the right key to their lighting scheme. Colors are bolder during the second half and Doyle employs high-contrast light on Arbogast in close- ups. Doyle also effectively uses very harsh, low-key light for the scene between Lila Crane (Julianne Moore), Marion's sister, and Sam Loomis (Viggo Mortensen), Marion's boyfriend. John Gavin was handsome but stiff as Sam in the original and Mortensen imbues the character with more personality.

Anthony Perkins was a superior actor and better suited for the seminal role of Norman Bates than Vince Vaughn was here but Vaughn's take on the antagonist really grew on me. It seems that Vaughn struggled to get into the character during his first few scenes with Heche but then gradually steeped himself within Norman's psyche. Also quite good are James Remar as the dark-shaded patrolman and Robert Forster as Dr. Simon, Norman's psychiatrist. Van Sant's version of Psycho has some nice things going for it but it can't hold a candle to the original.

Psycho Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Psycho (1998) premieres on North American Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. The film appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Shout! has not given the movie a new scan and this is presumably the same video master that Universal gave Via Vision Entertainment for the Australian box set of the Psycho movies entitled Psycho: The Complete Collection. Shout! encodes the main feature with a healthy average video bitrate of 31992 kbps and a total bitrate of 42.50 Mbps. The print is in stellar shape with only a few blemishes and speckles that get in the camera's way. In the audio commentary, which originally appeared on the Universal DVDs, Van Sant notes that the Saul Bass-inspired bars that slide across the screen during the main titles appear blue instead of green, which they were intended to and likely were present in the theatrical prints. That has been corrected in this digital edition with green moving lines present again. Hardware reviews of the June 1999 DVD cited minor edge enhancement and slight halos but these are largely absent here. Black levels throughout the film are deep and there is no annoying crush. Detail on faces is very good (see Screenshot #s 4, 14, 16, and 19). Grain is kept intact and the movie has a smooth, film-like appearance.

Shout! has divided the feature into its customary twelve scene selections (the DVD had eighteen).

Psycho Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout! has included a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround Sound track (2574 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo option (1736 kbps, 24-bit). (The DVD only had a Dolby Digital 5.1 option.) Dialogue is audibly clear and crisp throughout the presentation. Marion's interior monologues as well as the movie's displaced diegetic sound heard through her character's mindscreen create the most discreteness and separation on the surround channels. Raindrops and other filler effects are also heard on the rears.

Bernard Herrmann's 1960 score remains one of the greatest written for a motion picture and while Danny Elfman could have gone in a totally opposite direction with an entirely different score, it would have been unthinkable and impossible for him to match Herrmann note for note. In his review of the Collector's Edition DVD of Psycho (1998), DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson praised Elfman's musical arrangements and declared the disc "one of the best sounding DVDs I've heard." Herrmann's music is pretty active here but I didn't notice a whole lot of difference between this track and the 5.1 remix of the score heard on Universal's US BD of Psycho (1960). Shout!'s authoring and encoding of the 5.1 track is relatively modest and could have benefited from a maxed out bitrate.

Optional English SDH are available for the main feature.

Psycho Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout! Factory acquired the filmmaker trio commentary and making-of documentary on the original Universal DVDs. However, Shout! apparently was unable to license the "Additional Shower Scene" (2:30) and "International News Reel Footage" (7:45) available on Australia's Via Vision/Madman Entertainment region-free Psycho: The Complete Collection and the label's individual BD release of Psycho (1998). Also missing are the film's production notes on the Universal DVDs.

• Audio Commentary by Gus Van Sant, Anne Heche, and Vince Vaughn

• NEW Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Rob Galluzzo (THE PSYCHO LEGACY and PSYCHO [1998]) and Editor Amy Duddleston

• "Psycho Path: The Making of Psycho" (30:24, upconverted to 1080i)

• Theatrical Trailers (4:16, upconverted to 1080p)

• Stills Gallery (5:38, 1080p)

Psycho Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Psycho (1998) received an amalgamation of poor to mixed reviews but not all of them were bad. The movie has its supporters and the narrative gets better as it moves into its second half. If you don't own the Via/Madman individual release or box set containing it, you'll want to pick up this BD courtesy of Shout! Factory. The image transfer is sourced from an attractive print and the lossless tracks are solid. Shout! has added a new commentary and photo gallery slideshow consisting of EPK pictures and lobby cards. RECOMMENDED to fans of Van Sant and completists of the Psycho franchise.